Staff Remote Policy

Many of our staff positions are approved to work a maximum of one day per week remotely during the months of August to May, and a maximum of two days per week remotely during the months of June, July, and during main student break periods depending on the department's needs. The main student break periods include Winter Break, Spring Break, and Fall Break. This varies depending on the position has a large student-facing component and is dependent upon supervisors' approval and the needs of the department.

 

Please note, the standard work day for staff in the College is 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM with a one-hour lunch break, 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM with a thirty-minute lunch break, or 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM with a thirty-minute lunch break (please note that staff are required to take a break for lunch during the day).

 

Summer 2024 Remote Policy

The Dean has agreed to allow all staff to work remotely up to 2 days per week during the 2024 summer (May 20, 2024 through August 2, 2024). All staff are eligible for remote work, however, we understand that not all units will be able to enact this plan. It will be at the department’s discretion which staff are eligible to work remotely. We encourage you to have at least one day each week when your entire team will be in the office; team meetings should be scheduled on this day.

Remote Work Expectations

• The staff member has a professional workspace free of distractions. This time is dedicated to work, and therefore not coincident with other responsibilities such as child care or elder care, errands, appointments, and so forth. University funds may not be used to furnish home offices or provide equipment for home offices (printers, monitors, etc.).
• Staff must label in Google Calendar what days they are in the office or at home. This enables other staff to schedule meetings appropriately and, for safety purposes, we can easily ascertain who is in the building on a given day if needed.
• Staff are responsible for ensuring they can VPN in remotely to have access to all necessary documents and programs needed to complete work.
• Time spent working remotely can not have a negative impact on the staff member’s performance (ability to be reached via phone, email, attendance at meetings, etc). Any performance issues may lead to the removal of remote work privileges.
• The staff member is available to faculty, staff, and students while working remotely. Your campus/office phone extension will be forwarded to a number so that you can be reached where you are working (home phone, mobile phone, etc), or staff should use CISCO Jabber to forward phone calls to their laptop.
• Remote work cannot place an additional burden on others.
• Check-ins with your supervisor to make sure that both your needs and the needs of the department are met.

Scheduling, Time Off & Flexibility

• Discuss potential remote work schedules with your supervisor to design a general schedule that works for the team and also ensures that an additional burden is not created for others on the team
• Flexibility across the team to maintain a significant presence in the building and staffing where needed across the work day. Staff are expected to be able to pivot from working remotely to working on campus (possibly on short notice) if adequate on-campus staffing cannot be provided (due to vacation time, personal days, sick days, etc.).
• There may be some times in the semester given your role that you need to be on campus for the whole week. However, there should be some times when most staff should be able to take advantage of this flexibility.
• Regardless of your typical remote work schedule, if you are invited to attend an in-person meeting on campus (that does not have a Zoom or virtual option), you are expected to accept the invitation and attend the meeting in person on campus.
• Staff are expected to balance vacation days fairly between remote and on-campus work days. For example, if a staff member is in the hybrid category, about 20% (1 in 5) of their vacation days should be days where they would normally be working remotely.  
• Using vacation time does not disqualify you from working remotely on your regularly scheduled day.
• You cannot "bank" remote days. If you are required to be in person all week, you cannot work remotely for 2 days the following week. If you are sick at home on a non-remote day, that does not count as a remote day. It is a sick day.